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New A&M campus
Border Patrol arrests man
School will ‘transform the region’ By DANYA PEREZ-HERNANDEZ THE MONITOR
SHARP
McALLEN — Texas A&M University’s flagship campus in College Station plans to open a satellite campus in McAllen, local and university officials announced during a press conference Tuesday afternoon. The announcement, which city officials said will
“transform the region,” culminates about four years of careful and quiet preparation, Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp said in an exclusive interview with The Monitor. The facility will be an extension of Texas A&M in College Station, he said, and will share its funding from the Permanent University Funds and be run by A&M
President Michael Young. Students will be able to take classes in McAllen and receive a diploma from College Station, Sharp said. “This is not like Texas A&M International in Laredo; it’s not like Texas A&M Kingsville; it’s not like Texas A&M San Antonio,” Sharp said. “This is Texas
See A&M PAGE 10A
Suspect caught transporting immigrants YOUNG
By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
2016 GOP
MEXICO’S FOREIGN RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
EIGHT TOURISTS DEAD PERRY
Legal trouble, debates to blame By ABBY LIVINGSTON TEXAS TRIBUNE
Rick Perry blamed his criminal indictment and exclusion from the Republican debate mainstage for his failed presidential bid in his first interview since suspending his presidential campaign on Friday. “The indictment by the Travis County district attorney’s office, this drunk DA that had used this office, we think, for political purposes … it had a real corrosive effect on our ability to raise money,” he said on Fox News’ “Hannity.” “The political opponents, they did their damage,” he later added of his legal problems. The indictments against Perry were lodged by a special prosecutor, and brought by a grand jury, not the Travis County DA, as Perry said on Hannity.
See BLAME PAGE 10A
Photo by Mohammed Abu Zaid | AP
Shoppers walk around Cairo’s Khan el-Khalili bazaar in Egypt, Tuesday. Sunday’s airborne attack by Egyptian forces on tourists in the western desert, among the deadliest involving tourists in Egypt, came as the country has been trying to revive its vital tourism industry since the turmoil following the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.
Egyptian forces mistakenly shot at Mexicans By MARK STEVENSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department said Tuesday that embassy personnel in Egypt have identified six more bodies as those of Mexican citizens killed in air attack by Egyptian police and military forces. The deaths of two Mexicans had earlier been confirmed, bringing the total number of Mexicans killed to eight. Six other Mexicans were wounded in the attack. The department said Tuesday their condition is stable. There were 14 or 15
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said Tuesday evening the government is investigating “the precise details of this tragedy,” adding that “the chain of events is still confusing and unclear.” Mexicans who were traveling on a desert oasis tour at the time. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi on Tuesday called Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to offer his condolences and reiterate that Egypt
will provide all necessary medical assistance for the injured, presidency spokesman Alaa Youssef said in a statement in Cairo. Egyptian forces hunting militants in the country’s western desert mistakenly
opened fire on several vehicles used by Mexican tourists, killing 12 people on Sunday. The other dead are believed to be Egyptians. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said Tuesday evening the government is investigating “the precise details of this tragedy,” adding that “the chain of events is still confusing and unclear.” “We still do not know if the convoy was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or if some error was involved,” Shukri said. Egyptian officials
See TOURISTS PAGE 10A
A man was arrested in Zapata County for transporting immigrants who had crossed the border illegally, records state. U.S. Border Patrol said Juan Feliz Rangel was transporting six Mexican citizens illegally present in the United States. Rangel is in federal detention. On Sept. 3, agents assigned to an area south of Zapata said they observed three vehicles driving in tandem. The driver of one vehicle, a gray Dodge pickup, veered to the shoulder when he noticed law enforcement presence but continued driving. Then, agents said the two other vehicles drastically reduced their speed as the Dodge kept its speed. Records state the Dodge abruptly turned into a parking lot. Agents said they saw the driver walking into the store. Fifteen minutes passed and the driver remained inside the store, records show. A supervisory agent went inside the store to locate the driver. Meanwhile, agents said they approached the Dodge and noticed several people lying on the floorboard. All occupants admitted to being in the country illegally, according to court documents. The driver and the six immigrants were taken to the Zapata Border Patrol Station. There, agents identified the driver as Rangel, who allegedly agreed to speak to authorities regarding the smuggling attempt. Rangel voluntarily stated he was offered $200 per immigrant to move the group from Roma to Laredo, records state. Rangel told agents he expected further instructions once arriving in Laredo, states the criminal complaint filed Sept. 8. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 7282568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. 6 p.m.: Extreme Planets; 7 p.m.: Stars of the Pharaohs. General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Call 956-326-DOME (3663).
Today is Wednesday, September 16, the 259th day of 2015. There are 106 days left in the year. Today’s Highlights in History: On September 16, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act. Samuel T. Rayburn of Texas was elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. On this date: In 1810, Mexicans were inspired to begin their successful revolt against Spanish rule by Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and his “Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores).” In 1893, more than 100,000 settlers swarmed onto a section of land in Oklahoma known as the “Cherokee Strip.” In 1908, General Motors was founded in Flint, Michigan, by William C. Durant. In 1953, “The Robe,” the first movie presented in the widescreen process CinemaScope, had its world premiere at the Roxy Theater in New York. In 1974, President Gerald R. Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam war deserters and draft-evaders. In 1982, the massacre of between 1,200 and 1,400 Palestinian men, women and children at the hands of Israeli-allied Christian Phalange militiamen began in west Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. In 2007, O.J. Simpson was arrested in the alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors in Las Vegas. (Simpson was later convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery and sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison.) Ten years ago: President George W. Bush ruled out raising taxes to pay the massive costs of Gulf Coast reconstruction in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, saying other government spending had to be cut to pay for the recovery effort. Five years ago: Pope Benedict XVI began a controversial state visit to Britain, acknowledging the Catholic Church had failed to act decisively or quickly enough to deal with priests who raped and molested children. One year ago: President Barack Obama declared that the Ebola epidemic in West Africa could threaten security around the world and ordered 3,000 U.S. troops to the region in emergency aid muscle. Today’s Birthdays: Actress Janis Paige is 93. Actor George Chakiris is 83. Bluesman Billy Boy Arnold is 80. Movie director Jim McBride is 74. Actress Linda Miller is 73. Actress Susan Ruttan is 67. Actor Ed Begley Jr. is 66. Jazz musician Earl Klugh is 62. Actor Christopher Rich is 62. Actor Mickey Rourke is 59. Magician David Copperfield is 59. Retired MLB All-Star Tim Raines is 56. Comedian Molly Shannon is 51. Singer Marc Anthony is 47. Comedian-actress Amy Poehler is 44. Rapper Flo Rida is 36. Actress Alexis Bledel is 34. Rock singer Teddy Geiger is 27. Actressdancer Bailey Buntain is 26. Rock singer-musician Nick Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 23. Thought for Today: “Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.” — Laurence J. Peter, Canadian writer (born this date in 1919, died 1990).
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. 2 p.m.: Accidental Astronaut; 3 p.m.: Cosmic Adventures; 4 p.m.: Extreme Planets; 5 p.m.: Led Zeppelin. General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Matinee Shows are $1 less. Call 956-326-DOME (3663). LCC presents “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhed.” A blockhead begins to question the afterlife during this coming-of-age drama. Adult audiences. General admission is $7 and $5 for seniors and students. Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Fine Arts Center Theater, West End Washington Street.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 Chess Club meets at the LBV–Inner City Branch Library from 4–6 p.m. Free for all ages and skill levels. Basic instruction is offered. Call John at 7952400, x2521.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. 6 p.m.: Extreme Planets; 7 p.m.: Stars of the Pharaohs. General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Call 956-326-DOME (3663). Take the challenge and climb the Rock Wall. Free. All participants must bring ID and sign release form. 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at LBV–Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Call 7952400, x2520.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 Spanish Book Club meets from 6-8 p.m. at the public library on Calton Road. Call Sylvia Reash at 763-1810. TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. 6 p.m.: Extreme Planets; 7 p.m.: Stars of the Pharaohs. General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Call 956-326-DOME (3663). Elysian Social Club will hold its regular meeting at Golden Corral Restaurant at 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. 2 p.m.: Accidental Astronaut; 3 p.m.: Cosmic Adventures; 4 p.m.: Extreme Planets; 5 p.m.: Led Zeppelin. General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Matinee Shows are $1 less. Call 956-326-DOME (3663).
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 All you can eat spaghetti lunch sponsored by the United Methodist Men. From noon to 1:30 p.m. at Fellowship Hall, First United Methodist Church, 1000 Guadalupe at 1220 McClelland. No admission fee. Crochet Club of the First United Methodist Church will hold their annual pre-holiday sale from noon to 1:30 p.m., Fellowship Hall, FUMC. In conjunction with the Spaghetti Lunch. No admission fee; public invited.
Photo by Pat Sullivan | AP
An overturned Houston school bus is prepared for towing after it drove off a highway overpass Tuesday, in Houston. A female student died at the scene of the wreck and a second girl died at a hospital, according to a statement by the Houston Independent School District. Three others seriously injured.
School bus crash kills 2 ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — A school bus plunged off a highway overpass in Houston after being hit by a car on Tuesday, killing two students and seriously injuring three other people, police and school officials said. A 17-year-old female student died at the scene, while a 14-year-old girl died at a hospital, according to the Houston Independent School District. The driver and the other passengers on the bus — two male students — are hospitalized. The names of the students haven’t been released. “We are deeply saddened by this tragedy,” Superintendent Terry Grier said in a statement. “I ask all of the HISD community to join me in praying for all of those involved.” Police spokesman Victor Senties said in-
Ohio woman accused of trying to smuggle baby
Bush piles up days out of state since campaign
Deputy fired in inmate sex investigation
McALLEN — An Ohio teenager in a taxi has been accused of trying to smuggle a baby from Mexico through Texas and to Nebraska. Anna Crystal Paloma, of Cincinnati, remains in custody after arraignment last Thursday on human smuggling charges. Federal prosecutors in McAllen say the 19-year-old Paloma had a 4-month-old girl with her in a cab and crossed the border Aug. 4.
HOUSTON — Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has been out of the state or otherwise off work nearly half of the time since his father entered the Republican race for president, despite pledges to remain focused on his state elected office. The Houston Chronicle examined Bush’s calendar, agency records and social media accounts to measure the commissioner’s time away from his office.
GALVESTON — A Southeast Texas sheriff ’s deputy has been fired after being accused of having sex with a female inmate. The Galveston County Sheriff ’s Office says 32-year-old Ruben Ornelas was indicted on a charge of improper sexual contact with an inmate. The deputy was accused of having sexual contact with the inmate as she was transported from jail to a courthouse.
Changes likely to Texas jail forms after death
Bus accident in Austin leaves pedestrian dead
Man missing from sailboat in Galveston Bay
AUSTIN — Jail regulators in Texas say they are changing mental health screenings for inmates following the death this summer of Sandra Bland in a rural county lockup. Lawmakers on Tuesday learned that jails could begin using new intake forms early as November. That would be four months after Bland’s death.
AUSTIN — Investigators say a pedestrian has died after she was struck by a Capital Metro bus in Austin. A Capital Metro statement says the accident happened Monday night at an intersection. Officials say no passengers were on the bus at the time of the accident in North Austin. The bus driver was not hurt.
TEXAS CITY — The U.S. Coast Guard says crews are searching for a man who went missing from his 48-foot sailboat while it was anchored near an island in Galveston Bay. The Coast Guard said the search for Benton Scott Fleming began Sunday morning after his friend called them. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE NATION
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 Chess Club meets at the LBV–Inner City Branch Library from 4–6 p.m. Free for all ages and skill levels. Basic instruction is offered. Call John at 7952400, x2521.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. 6 p.m.: Extreme Planets; 7 p.m.: Stars of the Pharaohs. General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Call 956-326-DOME (3663). Take the challenge and climb the Rock Wall. Free. All participants must bring ID and sign release form. 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at LBV–Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Call 7952400, x2520.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 6th Annual “Blessing of All Animals” from 4 to 5 p.m. at St. Peter’s Plaza. All animals should be on a leash, harness, or in a cage.
vestigators believe a car struck the front driver’s side of the bus after swerving to avoid another vehicle during morning rushhour traffic. The bus then lurched to the right, struck a guardrail and toppled to the road below, Senties said. The school district said the car that hit the bus was being driven by a Houston teacher, who also was injured in the accident. Senties said it’s too early to determine if any charges will be filed in the accident. Photos and video of the accident show debris scattered around the yellow bus, its front end heavily damaged and its roof caved in. The students were being transported to Furr High School, which also operates a charter school; the girls who died each attended one of those schools. School officials said the bus was near the end of its route, so it didn’t have many students on board.
Striking Seattle teachers poised to return to school SEATTLE — Seattle teachers reached a tentative contract agreement with the city’s school district as their strike entered its fifth day Tuesday, but they will stay on the picket lines pending its approval. The sides reached a three-year deal, but the teachers union’s executive board and representative assembly must sign off on it before the strike is suspended. If they do, teachers could be back in the classroom today. The agreement addresses major sticking points around pay, testing, student equity, teacher evaluations and length of the school day.
Subway co-founder DeLuca dead at 67 NEW YORK — Subway cofounder Fred DeLuca, who turned a sandwich shop he started as
CONTACT US Publisher, William B. Green........................728-2501 Account Executive, Dora Martinez ...... (956) 765-5113 General Manager, Adriana Devally ...............728-2510 Adv. Billing Inquiries ................................. 728-2531 Circulation Director ................................. 728-2559 MIS Director, Michael Castillo.................... 728-2505 Copy Editor, Nick Georgiou ....................... 728-2565 Sports Editor, Zach Davis ..........................728-2578 Spanish Editor, Melva Lavin-Castillo............ 728-2569 Photo by Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com | AP
Supporters of striking Seattle teachers take part in a march and rally Tuesday, in Seattle. Seattle teachers announced Tuesday that they had reached a tentative agreement with the city’s school district. a teenager into the world’s largest fast-food chain, died Monday evening. He was 67. DeLuca’s death came two years after Subway said he had been diagnosed with leukemia and was scaling back on his leadership role at the company. It al-
so came just weeks after the 50th anniversary of Subway, which has more than 44,000 locations around the world. The company traces its roots to 1965, when DeLuca opened a sandwich shop at the age of 17. — Compiled from AP reports
SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500. The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net
Local & State
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
ZCISD’s Red Ribbon Week set SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
ZCISD is encouraging students and the community-at-large to celebrate life drug-free during Red Ribbon Week, which will take place Oct. 23–31. Red Ribbon Week represents the nationwide commitment to raising drug awareness in schools. In 1986 Congress declared Oc-
tober as National Drug Prevention Month in recognition of increasing citizen participation in substance abuse prevention programs. The national Red Ribbon theme this year is “Respect Yourself. Be Drug Free.” By honoring the history of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camerena’s sacrifice,
students wear red ribbons with drug free life slogans and decorate doors and school hallways. “Our target population is the school district; the elementary, middle and high school students, additionally we are hoping to reach into the community to those who are not yet attending school as well,” Zapata County Independ-
ent School District said in a press release. The district is also encouraging donations. Donated funds will be used to purchase Red Ribbon giveaways for ZCISD students. All donations should be address to: Community in Schools Norma Gonzalez 956-765-8389 ext. 1050 ngonzalez1@zcisd.org
2,500 gay marriage licenses issued ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT WORTH — Texas has issued an estimated 2,500 marriage licenses to same-sex couples since the practice was legalized, nearly 6 percent off all marriage licenses statewide, according to state estimates. Although applications no longer include gender identifiers, officials base the estimate on “what we can assume from the applicants’ names,” Carrie Williams, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The agency maintains vi-
tal records for the state and notes about 43,500 marriage applications since June 26, the day the U.S. Supreme Court swept away same-sex marriage bans in Texas and other states. In Tarrant County, officials received almost 3,500 applications, with about 300 from same-sex couples, a rate of almost 9 percent, the newspaper reported. “There are many samesex couples who simply waited until it was legal to seek licenses,” said Jim Riddlesperger, a political science professor at Texas Christian University “As a result, there have been a
number of folks who might have gotten married years ago had it been possible to do so who are taking advantage of their opportunity to gain legal recognition for their committed relationship. “My guess is that the overall percentage will shrink over time from this initial data once the ‘pentup demand’ has been satisfied.” Although several county clerks in Texas initially refused to issue licenses to same-sex couples, most of those issues have been resolved. Republican Attorney
General Ken Paxton issued a nonbinding opinion telling officials they could deny marriage licenses if they have religious objections. But he warned that doing so could lead to fines or lawsuits. Opponents of same-sex marriage discount the data. “We don’t know for certain how many same-sex marriage licenses have been issued in Tarrant County or any Texas county since the U.S. Supreme Court banned Texas from enforcing our marriage laws,” said Jonathan Saenz, president of Austin-based Texas Values.
United Way hosts lunch, bingo SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
The 2015 United Way committee members invite all to attend “Hump Day” Burger Combo Lunch & Bingo today at the Zapata Community Center from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. For a donation of $10, attendees can enjoy lunch with co-workers and a chance to win many bingo prizes. Keep in mind that
any and all proceeds from this event go to a great cause. Purchase tickets from any United Way committee member or at the front desk. 2015 Committee Members: Mario Canales, Andy Arambula, Alfredo Esparza, Javier Gonzalez, Juan Resendez, Juanita Davila, Michael Puig, Jason Garza and Tony Villarreal.
Red tide shows up in Corpus Christi area, some fish killed ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Paul Silva/Texas Parks & Wildlife Department | AP
This Sept. 14 photo provided by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department shows gulf menhaden carcasses washed along the shoreline of Packery Channel in Corpus Christi. The fish kill is related to the current red tide bloom.
AUSTIN — The algae bloom known as red tide has returned to Texas and is being blamed for some fish kills, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department reported Tuesday. Experts are monitoring the red tide, located mainly in the Corpus Christi area, to determine how widespread the bloom has become, according to Alex Nunez, a coastal ecologist with the agency. The bloom, named for its
reddish color, was first noticed Sunday by University of Texas Marine Science Institute personnel around the fish pass jetties on Mustang Island off the southern coast of Texas. Samples collected Monday identified concentrations at Port Aransas and Corpus Christi. The bloom is suspected in fish kills near Corpus Christi and at San Jose Island. “Right now we’re just kind of doing a shoreline, determining the extent of the kills and the bloom.
Our efforts are focusing mainly on the extent of the bloom,” Nunez said. The last time parts of Texas had red tide was in October 2014, Nunez said. Red tide involves a toxin in algae that can cause neurotoxic shellfish poisoning in humans who consume it. The toxin can remain in the tissue of oysters, clams, mussels and whelks weeks after red tide is no longer visible in the water. The bloom produces a toxin that can be released
into the air due to wave activity, Nunez said. “So when the toxins are put into the air, then it causes irritation for folks, their eyes get irritated, their noses get irritated, they get runny noses, they will cough and sneeze,” Nunez said. “If you are susceptible to any of these irritants, you may want to not go to that particular area that’s affected.” Anglers usually know to avoid algae blooms, since fish generally stay away from those areas, he said.
PAGE 4A
Zopinion
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
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EDITORIAL
OTHER VIEWS
Misplaced trust in Blue Bell THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Blue Bell Creameries has marketed its products for decades by invoking romantic country scenes of cows being led by hand to the milking stool. But the reality is far less idyllic. Lax procedures forced plant shutdowns and a massive product recall earlier this year after at least 13 people were sickened and three people died. A Houston Chronicle report last week detailed the extent to which Blue Bell workers complained repeatedly about hazardous production practices, and how managers disregarded their concerns. The Chronicle interviewed 14 employees at Blue Bell’s flagship Brenham, Texas, plant. The laxity and indifference these workers described makes us question why Texans are so quick to herald Blue Bell’s return. Though Blue Bell still isn’t available in Dallas, stores farther south couldn’t restock fast enough to keep up with demand when the brand returned. As if the longing for old-timey flavor and mythical country freshness outweighs the wrongs that forced Blue Bell to close plants in Texas, Alabama and Oklahoma. Workers described production schedules that were so geared to profit margins, managers didn’t leave time for machinery shutdowns so that proper cleaning could occur. In February, potentially deadly listeria pathogens were detected in a machine in Brenham and were flagged by both health officials and company testers. Yet the company didn’t change its practices for weeks —
and then only after ill consumers were hospitalized in Kansas. One worker described a cleaning process that required spraying production equipment with scalding-hot water to ensure that surfaces were cleaned of butterfat remnants, which can retain pathogens. The hot water would run out routinely, meaning surfaces remained potentially toxic. The equipment was put back into production anyway. Workers said they had complained about this problem for a decade or more, to no avail. Condensation would drip from pipes and dirty air vents, they said, making its way into food products. An employee described efforts by the company not to correct the problem but just to hide it whenever health inspectors arrived for visits. Company statements appear designed to divert attention from past mistakes and instead focus on production-process upgrades and training enhancements to ensure future safety. An independent microbiology expert is now being retained "for ongoing evaluation of our procedures and facilities." Thank goodness for that. But customers should be asking: Blue Bell, what took you so long? Establishment of an anonymous hotline would go far to ensure that problems employees see on the production line are fixed quickly and thoroughly. Loyalty to a time-honored brand has an endearing quality. But blind loyalty can be a dangerous thing. Blue Bell still has work ahead to earn back the trust it so badly squandered.
COLUMN
Biden’s grief gives him a narrative Last month I wrote that Joe Biden should not run for president this year. The electorate is in an anti-establishment mood, and as a longtime insider, Biden, I argued, would suffer from the same disadvantages Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush are now enduring, without any of their advantages. It would end badly. But then came Biden’s moment with Stephen Colbert. His discussion of his own grief over his son Beau’s death was beautiful and genuine and revealed the golden heart that everybody knows is at the core of the man. Biden talked about Beau. “My son was better than me. And he was better than me in almost every way.” He gestured toward how fluid grief is, how it goes round and round, hides for a few hours and then suddenly overwhelms. But there was something else embedded in that Colbert moment: a formation story. Every presidential candidate needs a narrative to explain how his or her character was formed. They needs a storyline that begins outside of politics with some experience or life-defining crucible moment that then defines the nature of their public service. Candidates like John F.
“
DAVID BROOKS
Kennedy and John McCain were formed by war. Candidates like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were formed by their rise from broken homes and their dedication to lift others and heal divisions. Without a clear formation story, a candidate is just a hodgepodge of positions and logos. Democrats this year are looking for a formation story that proves commitment. This is a party that is moving boldly leftward. Its voters want to know their candidate has the inner drive to push through structural changes, not just half measures. With Colbert, one saw the kernel of a Biden formation story that could connect not only with Democratic voters but with other voters as well. It is a story of dual loss: his wife and daughter decades ago and his son this year. Out of that loss comes a great empathy, a connection to those who are suffering in this economy and this world. Out of that loss comes a liberation from the fear of failure that dogs most politicians, and causes them to dodge and spin.
COLUMN
You can only see one of my football ‘trophies’ A lot of people would probably be surprised to learn that I played high school football. Most folks don’t believe or even think that someone in a creative, “artsy” field such as writing would have ever been involved in a contact sport. Tennis? Maybe. Ping pong (“table tennis”)? Probably. But, play football? Nah. But, yes I was involved and I’ve got the trophies to prove it. One you can see. The other you can’t. Of course, that involves a story. Thought you’d never ask. In a small town, just about every able-bodied boy in high school goes out for football. Well, except maybe the FFA guys. I mean, raising a “project” through vocational agriculture class — whether it’s chickens, a lamb, a hog or a steer or maybe you’re in the dairy livestock field — is tremendously time consuming. There are early-morning and late afternoon chores required of FFA student-members that make it almost mandatory to forego sports. But, unless you’re FFA or physically challenged, you’re expected to “suit up” and give all for dear old alma mater. Although my dad was a
rancher, prompting the Vo-Ag teacher to lick his chops in anticipation of the offspring of a good rancher enrolling in ag classes, it wasn’t going to happen with me, nor my three younger brothers. Dad never showed any disappointment. He supported whatever we wanted to do in school and, I believe, he was pumped up about all of us knocking heads in football. Mother wasn’t. People see 70ish me at 235 pounds and can visualize the football experience. Prior to my “aged growth years,” I usually weighed 170-175 pounds. As a teen in high school football, skinny me probably never tipped the scales at more than 150, although in my senior year I flirted with going over that mark. Out-of-town folks who knew me in those lightweight years were usually surprised that at my weight I played that contact sport. Just out of high school, this then-skinny guy had a flattop haircut and some people said if I stood sideways and stuck out my
tongue, I looked like a zipper. Of course, there were the usual football bumps and bruises but that never raised much concern with me. One game night, though, I got home about midnight from an out-oftown contest, visibly banged up in what I knew was a temporary way but when Mother flipped on the porch light and answered the door, she shrieked at the sight of me … she thought the “boogeyman” had come to wreak havoc. I limped because of a deep bruise in my left thigh. There was a knot on my left cheekbone; I’d been punched in the nose and mouth so they were swollen, red and had traces of blood. This was in a time before face masks were required. When I threw a body block at someone, I almost always went at ‘em with my left hip. You don’t see body blocks much anymore; coaches feel blocking can be more effective if you stay on your feet and shoveknock-bump the opponent all over the place. We were taught to “annihilate” them, knocking their feet from under them with the body block. Today’s mantra says if you keep your feet and
knock your opponent down, go find another one. While running with the ball and falling after a tackle, it seemed I invariably landed on my right knee (when I didn’t make a one-point landing on my head). No comments please. I now have “trophies” from those bangs and knocks. One you can view, the other is not visible. The aforementioned right knee on which I almost always landed is now bone-on-bone — no “padding” such as cartilage and there is some ligament damage. The visible trophy is an adjustable height metal cane that I now walk around with. I can’t sneak up on anyone … clink, clink, clink in a militarylike cadence. The “invisible” trophy nearly gets me arrested in airports. It’s a metal shaft in my left hip (body blocks, hah!) I even had to strip for one obnoxious guard before he believed I had a pseudo hip joint and accompanying metal shaft into the bone in my thigh. Trophies! They’re not what they’re hyped to be. Willis Webb is a retired community newspaper editor-publisher of more than 50 years experience. He can be reached by email at wwebb1937@att.net.
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CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors NCAA ATHLETICS: TEXAS LONGHORNS
Texas fires Patterson
File photo by Deborah Cannon | AP
Less than two years after he was introduced on Nov. 2013 as Texas’ new athletic director, pictured, Steve Patterson has been fired as the Longhorns continue shuffling up their staff in recent years.
Longhorns dismiss athletic director less than 2 years on the job By JIM VERTUNO ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — The awkward dismissal of Texas football coach Mack Brown came first. That was followed by the firings of school President Bill Powers and basketball coach Rick Barnes. Now athletic director Steve Patterson is gone, too, after less than two years — an abrupt end to his rocky tenure atop the nation’s wealthiest athletic program that remains in turmoil. Patterson, whose aggressive approach to raising money, rankled fans and some major donors, was dismissed Tuesday by university President Greg Fenves, according to two people with direct knowledge of the decision who spoke on condition of anonymity because the school hadn’t announced the
move. The decision came three days after a plane carrying a “Patterson Must Go” banner circled the football stadium before the Longhorns’ first home game of the season. Patterson’s tenure lasted only 22 months. While he was responsible for two popular hires — football coach Charlie Strong and basketball coach Shaka Smart — Patterson raised ticket prices after a losing football season, pushed coaches to raise money for endowed scholarships and created a fan “loyalty” program to prioritize ticket purchases. And while Strong still enjoys the support of fans, he is 7-8 overall in his second season. Smart hasn’t yet coached a Texas game. Firing Patterson creates a major void at Texas at a time when some Big 12 presidents are pushing to
expand from the league’s current 10 members, and trying to solidify its position in the new College Football Playoff. And it comes as Texas is seeking a lucrative new apparel contract once its current deal with Nike expires in 2016. Nike recently partnered with Michigan in a deal worth a reported $169 million. Fenves previously met several times with Patterson after complaints from fans and donors, which had reached as high as Board of Regents Chairman Paul Foster. Fenves and Patterson met briefly Tuesday morning and Patterson was told he was fired, the people told AP. He has a guaranteed contract through August 2019 that pays him at least $1.4 million per year. Fenves declined comment to a group of reporters outside his office Tuesday af-
ternoon. Patterson was supposed to be a hire that would calm turbulent waters at Texas. The university had put together a star-studded committee to find a replacement for DeLoss Dodds, a powerful figure who retired in October 2013. An impressive interview won Patterson the job over former West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck, who many had considered the favorite for the job. Pressure to fire Brown was already building to fever pitch before Patterson arrived in November 2013. Brown was fired barely six weeks later in the first of several major departures. Powers, a key player in the Big 12, was forced to resign in 2014 after years of clashes with regents. By March 2015, Patterson had also fired Barnes even after
the coach led the Longhorns to the NCAA tournament for the 16th time in 17 seasons. Patterson broke barriers by hiring Strong away from Louisville, making him the first black head football coach at Texas, which had a long history of segregation and racism. He also pushed to get alcohol sales at athletic events, scheduled a men’s basketball game in China next season and talked of someday scheduling an international game for the Longhorns football team. Most of Patterson’s career was spent as an executive in professional sports, notably the NBA, and he struggled to connect with university officials and supporters in the same way as Dodds. One of his first missteps was an awkward public push to have the city of Austin help finance a new
basketball arena after having not “invested a nickel” in the current Erwin Center over the previous 30 years. Those comments caught city officials off guard and forced the school to backtrack. And several actions raised questions of whether he connected with his coaches. At his exit news conference, Barnes accused Patterson of leaking private conversations and demands that Barnes shake up his staff before he was ultimately fired. Patterson also refused to engage in a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by Oklahoma State against Texas offensive line coach Joe Wickline. Texas was not named as a party in the case, which is still on-going, but led to Strong and his staff being subjected to embarrassing depositions to describe who calls plays.
Nation
6A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
Wildfires stump firefighters, computer models By BRIAN MELLEY AND DON THOMPSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Wildfires that have raged in California this summer haven’t just overwhelmed firefighters — they’ve also stumped computer models designed to predict the intensity of flames and where they’ll burn. “These fires are actually exceeding what our models will even predict,” said Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. While rapidly spreading wildfires exacerbated by four years of drought may have made wildfires harder to forecast, others suggest modeling methods haven’t kept up to speed with technology. Modeling has been a primary tool for nearly 40 years for fire managers to plot where a fire will run and help plan where they
should deploy firefighters, dig containment lines, fly water- and retardant-dropping aircraft and order evacuations. But it’s not an exact science, and it is often only as good as the expert doing the analysis and a little trial and error. Modeling experts who work for fire agencies take variables such as vegetation type, humidity, temperature and terrain and plug them into a computer program to create virtual fires and see how they progress. Forecasts are usually created twice a day and shared with managers on the ground to make tactical decisions that day and plan for days ahead. “It’s imperfect. Sometimes it’s spooky right. Other times you miss the mark,” said Rick Stratton, a fire analyst for the U.S. Forest Service. “More often than not, the science, I don’t want to say it’s right, but it helps make a risk-in-
Photo by Elaine Thompson | AP
Firefighter Jeff Ohs walks below a scorched hillside and fire ravaged buildings at the Harbin Hot Springs resort in a wildfire several days earlier, Tuesday, near Middletown, Calif. formed decision.” Fires this summer have been growing bigger faster, and that’s one factor that could be making modeling harder, said Tim Sexton, a program manager with the Forest Service. Over the weekend, a fire in Lake County torched more than 60 square miles in 12 hours, destroying
nearly 600 homes, killing an old woman trapped in her Cobb Mountain home and sending thousands fleeing down flame-lined roads. In the same general area north of California’s Wine Country, the so-called Rocky Fire erupted in late July, destroying 43 homes and spreading over 100 square miles. CalFire ran
models hundreds of times that could not replicate its rapid growth, Pimlott said. To some, that’s because the model is outdated and doesn’t accurately account for the often turbulent weather created by the fire itself, which includes fierce winds not foreseen in daily forecasts. “I think their technology is so outdated and what they’re modeling is so complex,” said Janice Coen, a meteorologist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. “Most of us would just say this doesn’t work.” Coen has used data to create simulations of some of the biggest fires in the West, including the one that killed 19 firefighters in Yarnell, Arizona, in 2013. In that case, winds changed dramatically and shifted on the crew. Coen said those conditions could have been forecast given the weather pattern that
was developing, which she said was common for that area. She wouldn’t have been able to tell exactly where the flames would burn, but she would have had a pretty good idea. Coen has developed a model that incorporates more accurate weather information with fire behavior to account for air flows in steep terrain and for how fire alters the weather. “That’s where this model is strong because it’s incorporating the time-changing weather and all the weird things happening in the mountains and the fire feedbacks,” Coen said. The Forest Service has improved its modeling from the days it used maps and calculators, and now uses a web-based system. It is working at its Missoula, Montana, fire lab to incorporate better weather information to create more sophisticated models, said Sexton.
Flash flood kills 12 in small town Obama opposes By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL AND BRADY MCCOMBS ASSOCIATED PRESS
HILDALE, Utah — Search-and-rescue teams trudged through muddy streambeds Tuesday in a small polygamous town on the Utah-Arizona border, looking for people who were missing after a devastating flash flood that killed at least 12 people. With more rain in the forecast, men in helmets were perched at high points along the route, watching carefully for any more floodwaters that could suspend the search in Hildale, the secluded community that is the home base of Warren Jeffs’ polygamist sect. Only one person was still missing Tuesday afternoon out of 16 people — three women and 13 children — who were in two vehicles that got smashed Monday by a wall of water and carried several hundred yards downstream. Authorities had not identified the dead. Three people survived, all of them children. On Tuesday, the streets were caked in red mud, and earth movers cleared the roads and piled up mounds of dirt. As a helicopter
Photo by Rick Bowmer | AP
People look on as crews clear mud and debris from a road following a flash flood, Tuesday, in Colorado City, Ariz. buzzed overhead, crowds of boys in jeans and girls and women in deep-colored prairie dresses watched the rescue effort. Residents called it the worst flood in memory for the sister towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, which are 315 miles south of Salt Lake City at the foot of picturesque red rock cliffs. It was in this area at Maxwell Canyon where heavy rains sent water down Short Creek and barreling through the towns. The torrent was so fast, “it was taking concrete pillars and just throwing them
down, just moving them like plastic,” said Lorin Holm, who called the storm the heaviest in the 58 years he’s lived in the community. The women and children were in an SUV and a van on a gravel road north of the towns. They were returning from a park when they stopped at a flooded crossing and got out to watch the raging waters, Hildale Mayor Philip Barlow said. What they did not know was that a flash flood was brewing in the canyon above, he said. It came rushing down and engulfed their vehicles.
“We’re greatly humbled by this, but we realize that this is an act of God, and this is something we can’t control,” said Barlow, a Jeffs follower. “We have to take what we receive and do the best we can.” About three hours earlier, the National Weather Service had issued a flood warning for the area, saying: “Move to higher ground now. Act quickly to protect your life.” It’s unknown if the victims were aware of the warning. The raging torrents are not uncommon in an area prone to flash floods, but the volume and pace of Monday’s rain was a “100-year event,” said Brian McInerney, hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City. The height of the storm lasted about 30 minutes, pouring 1 1/2 inches of rain into a desert-like landscape with little vegetation and many steep slopes. Monday’s weather event was like a bucket of water being poured onto a rock — it slid right off and began running downstream, picking up sediment to create the forceful, muddy “chocolate mess” that rushed through the city, McInerney said.
Professor admits to killing wife By JEFF AMY AND KEVIN MCGILL ASSOCIATED PRESS
GAUTIER, Miss. — In a 911 call, his voice only slightly shaky, college professor Shannon Lamb told police he had shot his wife and officers needed to get over to their house. Lamb made a point to say his “sweet dog” was there alive and probably upset, and said the dead woman’s family contacts could be found on her phone. Inside the home, officers found Amy Prentiss’ body and a hand-written note scribbled on white legal pad: “I am so very sorry I wish I could take it back I loved Amy and she is the only woman who ever loved me,” read the letter authorities say was signed by Lamb. There was no indication that Lamb, who was teaching two online classes for Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, had already traveled 300 miles to the school’s campus, where police believe he shot and killed a well-liked history professor, Ethan Schmidt, in the doorway to his office roughly around the same time he made the 911 call. By the end of the day, there would be one more death: Lamb took his own life as police closed in on him. A day after the school shooting forced students and faculty to hide behind locked doors, authorities were still trying to piece together what motivated Lamb. The details released by investigators at both
Photo courtesy of Gautier, Miss. Police | AP
This photo provided by Gautier, Miss., police at a news conference on Tuesday shows a hand-written note investigators found. ends of the state as well as students and staff who knew him helped paint a picture of a talented but possibly troubled teacher. Students said they looked forward to his class. Police in Gautier, where Prentiss died, said he had no history of violence or criminal record. Schmidt himself had included Lamb in a book he wrote where he acknowledged the “wonderful people” he shared his academic life with. Both taught in Division of Social Sciences and History, which lists 17 faculty members, and many students took courses from both. At the same time, there were some inclinations of
problems. A student who praised Lamb, Brandon Beavers, said he also seemed agitated and jittery, “like there was something wrong with him.” Another student, Mikel Sykes, said Lamb told him he was dealing with stress at the end of the 2014-15 academic year. Lamb had earlier asked Delta State University for a medical leave of absence, saying he had a health issue of some sort. This year, he was only teaching two online classes. Recent changes in the university’s hiring policies meant that the doctorate Lamb had worked so hard to earn would not guarantee him an automatic tenure track
to become an assistant professor. University President William LaForge said he didn’t know of any conflict between Lamb and Schmidt but “obviously there was something in Mr. Lamb’s mind.” Those are questions Lamb can no longer answer. After fleeing the campus, police later picked up Lamb’s trail when he crossed back into Mississippi from Arkansas. Before he could be apprehended, Lamb killed himself with a single .38-caliber pistol in the backyard of a home about a mile south of his parents’ home on the outskirts of Greenville, Mississippi, said Washington County Coroner Methel Johnson. His car was still running in the driveway. It was not immediately clear why Lamb went to that home, though Johnson said she believes he knew the people who lived there. Lamb grew up in the area. Lamb started working at the university, which has 3,500 students in a city of about 12,000, in 2009 and taught geography and education classes. He received a doctorate in education in the spring. One of Lamb’s longtime friends described him as smart, charismatic and funny. Carla Hairston said she was 15 and Lamb was 20 when they met through mutual friends. She and her friends were in high school, and he was the cool older guy who tried for several years to teach her to play guitar.
oil export ban By MATTHEW DALY ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The White House said Tuesday it opposes a House Republican bill to lift the fourdecade-old ban on crude oil exports. A decision on whether to end the ban should be made by the Commerce Department, not Congress, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. Earnest also took a shot at House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans pushing to end the oil export ban, which was imposed in the 1970s as the United States responded to an Arab oil embargo that sparked inflation and prompted long lines at gas stations. Earnest accused McCarthy and other Republicans of trying to “cozy up to oil interests” by pursuing policies that benefit the oil and gas industry. He urged Republicans to support efforts to eliminate subsidies for oil and gas companies and back investments in wind and solar power and other renewable energy. Earnest was responding a speech McCarthy, RCalif., was making in Houston Tuesday to promote the importance of U.S. energy production, including lifting the ban on crude oil exports. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to approve a bill lifting the export ban later this week. “If there was ever a time to lift the oil export ban, it’s now,” McCarthy said in a speech to a Houston business group. “Lifting the oil export ban will not only help our economy, it will also bolster our geopolitical standing.” The oil industry has launched a lobbying cam-
paign to lift the export ban, saying it would produce hundreds of thousands of jobs by offering additional markets for oil companies to sell their product. Republicans and some Democrats in the House and Senate have joined the push, saying an ongoing boom in oil and gas drilling has made the 1970s-era restrictions obsolete. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said a “scarcity mindset” leftover from that era has been replaced by soaring domestic production of oil and natural gas, even as renewable energy such as wind and solar power also make gains. A report this month by the U.S. Energy Information Administration — an arm of the Energy Department — said lifting the ban would not hurt consumers at the gasoline pump. Opponents say lifting the ban would make it harder for U.S. refineries to compete internationally and could lead to job losses. Sen. Edward Markey, DMass., said it makes no sense to export U.S. oil when the nation still imports millions of barrels of oil a day and consumers are saving at the pump because of lower oil prices worldwide. “Low gas prices are a massive economic stimulus for American consumers and our economy,” Markey said. “Oil companies want to lift the export ban in order to tip consumers upside down and shake money out of their pockets.” The U.S should keep its oil home “to benefit our economy, not hand a multi-billion windfall to Big Oil by allowing it to be sent overseas to the highest bidder,” Markey said.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
Zentertainment
List for book awards released
Swift’s star power shines By MESFIN FEKADU ASSOCIATED PRESS
By HILLEL ITALIE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Former National Book Award winners Terrance Hayes and Marilyn Hacker will have another shot at the prize this year. Both are on the longlist for poetry, released Tuesday by the National Book Foundation, which presents the awards. Nominees for young people’s literature were announced Monday, with nonfiction and fiction longlists to come later this week. Hayes was nominated for “How to Be Drawn” and Hacker, who won 40 years ago for her debut collection, “Presentation Piece,” was chosen for “A Stranger’s Mirror.” The 10 finalists also include Ross Gay’s “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude,” Amy Gerstler’s “Scattered at Sea” and Ada Limon’s “Bright Dead Things.” Judges will narrow the list to five on Oct. 14, with the winner to be announced at the annual awards ceremony on Nov. 18 in New York City. Also on the longlist for poetry were three books published by Alfred A. Knopf — Jane Hirshfield’s “The Beauty,” Robin Coste Lewis’ “Voyage of the Sable Venus” and Patrick Phillips’ “Elegy for a Broken Machine” — along with Rowan Ricardo Phillips’ “Heaven” and Lawrence Raab’s “Mistaking Each Other for Ghosts.”
PAGE 7A
Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision | AP
In this July 10 file photo, singer Taylor Swift performs during her "1989" world tour at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
NEW YORK — You could call Taylor Swift baby Oprah, and the stage is her version of Winfrey’s couch. Easily the most important pop star of today, now Swift’s star power has reached even greater heights and stretched outside of music, thanks to her uber successful, star-studded 1989 World Tour. In typical Swift fashion, she has invited fellow radio-friendly singers to join her onstage, including Nick Jonas, Jason Derulo, John Legend and close gal pals Selena Gomez and Lorde. But Swift, 25, has also shared her stage with iconic folk singer Joan Baez
and breakthrough acts like The Weeknd and Fetty Wap, who sang his hit “Trap Queen,” a contemporary love song about cooking cocaine — among other things — with your lover. And then there were the tour’s unorthodox moments: Ellen DeGeneres appeared onstage, Lisa Kudrow sang the memorable “Smelly Cat” from “Friends” at one show, and Kudrow’s former co-star, Matt LeBlanc, hit the stage at a show with Chris Rock. Julia Roberts even walked the stage like a runway as Swift performed her hit “Style.” The pop star also invited athletes to join in on the fun, from Kobe Bryant to Serena Williams to the U.S.
women’s soccer team, just days after they won the World Cup. And the models she calls her friends, from Gigi Hadid and Karlie Kloss. “Interviewers always ask me how we ‘get’ these people to come to the shows to walk, and the truth is that everyone who has walked the catwalk at one of the shows was already there just to see the show. Usually I ask them in my preshow meet and greet if they want to come out onstage, then I’ll explain to them how the stage/elevator lift works and we just wing it,” Swift said in an email to The Associated Press. Many of her surprise guests have children who are die-hard Swifties.
International
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
NKorea warns it restarted bomb plants By ERIC TALMADGE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PYONGYANG, North Korea — With a big anniversary drawing near, North Korea declared Tuesday it has upgraded and restarted all of its atomic fuel plants — meaning it could possibly make more, and more sophisticated, nuclear weapons. The statement, coming just a day after it said it is ready to conduct more rocket launches any time it sees fit, has heightened concerns the North may soon either conduct a launch — which Washington and its allies see as a pretext for testing missile technology — or hold another test of nuclear weapons that it could conceivably place on such a rocket. Either would be sure to get world attention and be milked by North Korea’s state media as major achievements by Kim Jong Un and his ruling regime. But North Korea’s recent statements also fit a pattern of using claimed improvements in its nuclear and missile programs — many of which don’t lead to launches or nuclear tests — to push for talks with the United States that could eventually provide the impoverished country with concessions and eased sanctions, or backfire and deepen its standoff with the U.S. and its allies. North Korea has spent decades trying to develop operational nuclear weapons. It is thought to have a small arsenal of atomic bombs and an impressive array of short- and medium-range missiles. But it has yet to demonstrate that it can produce nuclear bombs small enough to place on a missile, or missiles that can reliably deliver their bombs to faraway targets. Still, it has conducted
three nuclear tests and a series of steadily improving long-range rocket launches, and some analysts see the announcements as foreshadowing another launch ahead of the anniversary celebration or a fourth nuclear test, which would push North Korea further along in its nuclear aims. North Korea said Tuesday in its state media that, as it pledged to do in 2013, the plutonium and highly enriched uranium facilities at its main Nyongbyon nuclear complex have finally been “rearranged, changed or readjusted and they started normal operation.” It said its scientists had improved “the levels of nuclear weapons with various missions in quality and quantity.” North Korea agreed to shut down the Nyongbyon reactor in 2007 in return for emergency energy assistance and steps toward the normalization of relations with the U.S. and Japan in a deal resulting from six-party talks involving the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas. In 2009, North Korea pulled out of the denuclearization talks and expelled international inspectors after the U.N. Security Council condemned Pyongyang for a failed satellite launch that was considered a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The North later pledged to resume its nuclear enrichment program at Nyongbyon. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States and other nations around the world will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state. “That’s why we urge North Korea to refrain from actions and rhetoric that threaten regional peace and security and focus instead on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments,” Earnest said. “We will work
Photo by Ahn Young-joon | AP
A visitor walks by a display illustrating the damage a 1MT class nuclear weapon would cause if detonated in Seoul, at the Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday. A day after threatening long-range rocket launches, North Korea declared Tuesday that it has upgraded and restarted all its atomic fuel plants. with our partners in the context of the six-party talks to try to return North Korea to a posture of fulfilling those commitments that they have made.” Earnest said the United States is aware of actions North Korea has taken. “We will repeat our call that North Korea should refrain from the irresponsible provocations that aggravate regional tension and should focus instead on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments,” Earnest said. North Korea, an autocracy run by the same fam-
Hungary seals border, declares emergency By DUSAN STOJANOVIC AND VANESSA GERA ASSOCIATED PRESS
HORGOS, Serbia — Hungary sealed off its border with Serbia with massive coils of barbed wire Tuesday and began detaining migrants trying to use the country as a gateway to Western Europe, harsh new measures that left thousands of frustrated asylumseekers piled up on the Serbian side of the border. Human rights activists condemned the move, with Amnesty International saying Hungary’s “intimidating show of militarized force is shocking.” But Prime Minister Viktor Orban defended the measures, saying he was acting to preserve Christian Europe, which he said had become threatened by the large numbers of Muslims streaming into the continent. “The supply is nearly endless — we can see how many of them are coming,” Orban said in a televised address just before the new laws took effect at midnight. “And if we look at the demographics, we can see that these people have more children than our communities who lead a traditional, Christian way of life.” “Mathematics tells you that this will lead to a Europe where our way of life will end up in a minority, or at least face a very serious challenge.” By nightfall Tuesday, thousands of migrants, including many babies and children, prepared to spend a night in the open or in flimsy tents erected in the bushes or on the main highway near the Serbian border with Hungary. Men collected wood in a nearby forest for fires in preparation for a chilly night. “I had hope until now, but it’s all gone,” lamented Mohammad Mahayni, a 32-
Photo by Sergey Ponomarev/New York Times | AP
Frustrated migrants are prevented by newly built fences from crossing into Hungary, in Horgos, Serbia, Tuesday. year-old Syrian from Damascus, who became separated from his wife as they tried to enter Hungary a day earlier. “I lifted the razor wire for her, she got in before a Hungarian border patrol came by,” he said. “Now I don’t know where she is.” The new laws make it a crime to breach or damage the 13-foot-high razor-wire fence erected along 110 miles of Hungary’s border with Serbia and include longer prison terms for convicted human traffickers. Authorities said they detained 174 people who tried to cross the border Tuesday. Hungary has said it will turn most of the migrants back to Serbia, which it considers a safe country where they could also request asylum. The developments mark a dramatic reversal for Hungary, an East European nation that played a key role in cracking open the Iron Curtain in 1989 when it removed a border fence to Austria, prompting large numbers of East Germans to flee to the West. At the European Parliament in Brussels, European Commission President JeanClaude Juncker paid tribute Tuesday to Gyula Horn, the late Hungarian prime minister who dismantled that fence. He appeared at the
unveiling of a bust of Horn, praising him as “a great Hungarian, a great person, a great European” — a clear gesture of reproach of Orban. Hungary also declared a state of emergency in two southern regions Tuesday, giving authorities greater powers to deal with the crisis and allowing them to shut down roads and speed up asylum court cases. That also allows the military to be deployed to defend the border, pending approval by parliament next week, though heavily armed military personnel with vehicles and dogs have been seen patrolling the border for days. “For refugees fleeing from terrifying conflict zones to be met by such an intimidating show of militarized force is shocking, and a woefully irresponsible response to people already traumatized by war and brutality,” said Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Europe. The Hungarian government said it plans to extend the steel razor-wire fence — which it calls a “temporary border closure” — several miles along the border with Romania as well, something the Bucharest government said violated the “European spirit” of cooperation.
ily since 1948, closely controls information about its nuclear program. As a result, just what is happening at Nyongbyon is unclear. North Korea booted out international inspectors in 2009, and independent assessments by outside experts since then have been spotty. At various points in the decades-long standoff over its nuclear ambitions, North Korea has said it has shut down or restarted its atomic fuel production. In 2013, it said it would restart a plutonium reactor that had been shuttered under a 2007 disarmament agreement.
Satellite imagery earlier this year showed signs it still wasn’t operating fully. A uranium enrichment facility unveiled to a visiting American scientist in 2010 presumably gives North Korea a second way to make fissile material for bombs. On Monday, the North’s aerospace agency said it is ready to launch new satellites aboard long-range rockets. Many analysts abroad have expected North Korea would launch a rocket as part of celebrations of the Oct. 10 ruling Workers’ Party founding anniversary. The world will “clearly see a series of satellites soaring into the sky at times and locations determined” by the Workers’ Party, an unidentified director at the North’s National Aerospace Development Administration director was quoted as saying by state media. North Korea has said its satellite launches are peaceful and meant for weather observation. The United States and its allies consider them covers for banned tests of long-range missiles. Ballistic missiles and rockets used in satellite launches share similar bodies, engines and other technology. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it had not detected any sign indicating North Korea is preparing a rocket launch. Analysts in Seoul, meanwhile, said North Korea’s announcements suggest an imminent nuclear test, although that is far from clear at this point. After several failures, North Korea put its first satellite into space with a long-range rocket launched in late 2012. The U.N. said it was a banned test of ballistic missile technology and imposed sanctions. North Korea conducted
its third nuclear test in February 2013, inviting further international condemnation and sanctions. Later that year it threatened Seoul and Washington with nuclear strikes. Despite the domestic propaganda gains and value to the North’s military, a rocket launch or especially a nuclear test could come at a heavy cost for its regime. China, North Korea’s last major ally and aid benefactor, made it clear that it doesn’t want to see a rocket launch by North Korea. “As a sovereign country, North Korea has the right to the peaceful use of outer space, but it’s restricted by relevant resolutions by the U.N. Security Council,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular news briefing Tuesday. “The resolutions by the U.N. Security Council should be fully implemented.” North Korea’s latest announcements also raise doubts about recent signs of easing animosities between the rival Koreas, which agreed to hold reunions next month of families separated by the Korean War. Before a thaw, the two Koreas had threatened each other with war in August in the wake of mine explosions blamed on the North that maimed two South Korean soldiers earlier that month. The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea. Washington and Seoul say the troops must remain as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea, but the North says they must be removed if there is to be peace on the peninsula.
MIÉRCOLES 16 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2015
Ribereña en Breve MISS ROMA 2015 La Cámara de Comercio de Roma invita a alumnas del 10o, 11o y 12o grado en Roma High School a participar en el certamen de belleza ‘MISS ROMA 2015’. La fecha límite de registro es el lunes 21 de septiembre. Pida informes llamando a Blanca Ruiz al 956-849-1411 o en 956844-1428, de lunes a viernes de 8 a.m. a 5 p.m.
CLASES DE INGLÉS ROMA — Se ofrecen clases de inglés, gratuitas, para principiantes y avanzados. El espacio es limitado. Pida informes en el (956) 984-6270.
Zfrontera PATRULLA FRONTERIZA DE EU
Esperaba pago POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Un hombre fue arrestado en el Condado de Zapata por transportar inmigrantes que habían cruzado la frontera de manera ilegal, indican reportes. La Patrulla Fronteriza de EU dijo que Juan Feliz Rangel estaba transportando a seis ciudadanos mexicanos que estaban de manera ilegal en Estados Unidos. Rangel se encuentra en arresto federal. EL 3 de septiembre, agentes asignados al área sur de Zapata dijeron que observaron a tres ve-
hículos manejando uno detrás del otro. El conductor de una pick up Dodge, color gris, se hizo hacia el acotamiento cuando vio la presencia de los agentes, pero siguió manejando. Entonces, los agentes dijeron que los otros vehículos redujeron drásticamente su velocidad para mantener la misma velocidad que la Dodge. Archivos indican que la Dodge de manera abrupta se introdujo a un estacionamiento. Agentes dijeron que vieron al conductor caminar hacia adentro de la tienda. Pasaron quince minutos y el
conductor continuaba adentro de la tienda, indican archivos. Un agente supervisor se introdujo a la tienda para localizar al conductor. Mientras tanto, agentes dicen que se acercaron a la Dodge y notaron a varias personas recostadas adentro de la caja. Todos los ocupantes admitieron encontrarse de manera ilegal en el país, de acuerdo con documentos de la corte. El conductor y seis inmigrantes fueron trasladados a la Estación de la Patrulla Fronteriza en Zapata. Ahí, agentes identificaron al
REPORTE
DONACIÓN ‘REAL’
Aumenta cada año nivel de hambre
NUEVOS FUNCIONARIOS MIGUEL ALEMÁN — Fueron entregados nombramientos a nuevos Delegados Estatales de la Secretaría de Desarrollo Social en los municipios de Miguel Alemán, Valle Hermoso y Jaumave. Se dio posesión como nueva Delegada en Valle Hermoso, a Sandra Luz Ramírez; en Miguel Alemán, a Berenice García Villalobos; y en Jaumave, a Alfredo Cruz Martínez. Durante el evento estuvieron presentes Fernando Salinas, Amelia Vitales Rodríguez y Lucía Aimé Castillo, quienes son los Enlaces Territoriales de cada uno de los municipios, respectivamente. En tanto, la semana pasada recibió nombramiento como nueva Delegada de SEDESOL en el municipio de Altamira, Griselda Carrillo Reyes.
APREHENSIÓN MATAMOROS, México — Luis Eduardo González Cervantes y Carlos Antonio González Cervantes, supuestos integrantes de un grupo delincuencial, fueron arrestados el viernes 11 de septiembre en el Fraccionamiento Quinta Real. El reporte del Grupo de Coordinación Tamaulipas indica que al momento de su detención, trataron de sobornar a los policías estatales con dinero a cambio de su libertad. Les fueron aseguradas un arma larga con 29 cartuchos hábiles, un radio de comunicación y un vehículo Jeep Cherokee sin placas de circulación. Detenidos y evidencias fueron puestos a disposición del Ministerio Público Federal.
RESCATE NUEVO LAREDO, México — Personal de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional rescató a 15 migrantes sudamericanos que se encontraban privados de su libertad. Un sospechoso fue detenido. Los hechos ocurrieron el jueves 10 de septiembre cuando militares recorrían calles de la colonia Daniel Hernández. Al pasar por una residencia en el 8800 de calle Ismael Villarreal, los militares fueron abordados por un hombre quien dijo él y otras personas estaban secuestradas. En el interior del domicilio fueron localizadas 14 personas migrantes más. De las 15 víctimas, 14 eran de Brasil y una de Ecuador. El sospechoso, Joseph Alexander Reyes, originario de Belice, fue señalado por las víctimas de ser una de las personas que los vigilaban y llamaba a sus familiares para exigirles dinero a cambio de su libertad.
conductor como Rangel, quien supuestamente aceptó hablar con las autoridades en relación al intento de contrabando. De manera voluntaria, Rangel declaró que le ofrecieron 200 dólares por inmigrante, para mover al grupo de Roma a Laredo, indican archivos. Rangel dijo a los agentes que espera más instrucciones al arribar en Laredo, indica la querella criminal presentada el 8 de septiembre. (Localice a César G. Rodriguez en el 728-2568 o en cesar@lmtonline.com)
FERIA DEL CONDADO DE ZAPATA
ACADEMIA DE SOCCER ROMA — Roma FC Soccer Academy tendrá un día más de registro, el 17 de septiembre, de 6:30 p.m. a 7:30 p.m. en el Parque Comunitario Roma. Se invita a niños de 3 a 12 años de edad. Cuota: 40 dólares, incluye jersey y shorts. Informes en el (956) 437-2700 y el (956) 437-9112.
PÁGINA 9A
ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Foto de cortesía
Carissa González, Zapata County Fair Tiny Miss y Andrew Sánchez, ZCF Little Cowboy, donaron camisetas escolares al Zapata County ISD. Con ellos, Rogelio González, Laura Moncivais y Cynthia Villarreal.
COLUMNA
Prensa magonista en influye en Tamaulipas Nota del Editor: Por medio de la prensa, Ricardo Flores Magón ejerce gran influencia en México. Tanta, que sus postulados cristalizan en acciones de rebeldía. Tamaulipas así lo registra.
POR RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZ ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Ricardo Flores Magón potencia la palabra impresa. Volviéndola instrumento de lucha, con ella moviliza conciencias y sacude los albores del siglo XX mexicano. El impacto llega hasta Tamaulipas. De ideas avanzadas, Flores Magón marca el surgimiento del Partido Liberal Mexicano (PLM). El nuevo instituto político destaca enseguida por su combate aguerrido contra la dictadura que encabeza Porfirio Díaz. Adelantándose mucho a Francisco I. Madero, el sentimiento antiporfiriano crece “en torno a […] esta corriente, alrededor de la cual giraron […] cientos de grupos que denunciaban y combatían por todos los medios a la tiranía”, puntualiza Armando Bartra. Da impulso al PLM el Gran Congreso Liberal, que se realiza en la ciudad de San Luis Potosí el 5 de febrero de 1901. Asisten, entre otros, Amado González, de Nuevo Laredo; Alberto Villasana, de Tula, y Pompeyo Morales, de Tampico. Flores Magón concurre al evento como representante de “Regeneración”, órgano informativo que inicia en meses previos, extendidos a 1918. Víctima de constantes represalias, el tabloide debe imprimirse sucesi-
vamente en México y EUA. Incluso así, tanta influencia ejerce que al margen suyo resultan incomprensibles los prolegómenos y alcances del movimiento revolucionario iniciado en 1910. Con Tamaulipas, el vínculo magonista asoma temprano. “Las autoridades creen que son amos y señores del pueblo trabajador, y se equivocan”, publica al mediar 1901 “Regeneración”. Titulada “Un escándalo en Tampico”, la nota denuncia abusos del alcalde Vicente Fusco, quien ordena tundir y encarcelar a modesto empleado por motivos baladíes. Acostumbra “este funcionario” a “hacer su voluntad sobre todo derecho”, reprocha el texto. Sin duda, el célebre periódico circula en suelo tamaulipeco. Alrededor de 1907, indica Rafael Sánchez Escobar, “los [exiliados] hermanos [Ricardo y Enrique] Flores Magón, que […] residían en los Estados Unidos […] y no cesaban por medio de ‘Regeneración’ de atacar a la dictadura porfirista, me nombraron su agente en este puerto [de Tampico], vendiendo […] entre locatarios del mercado buen número de ejemplares”. Cerca de 1905, “en la biblioteca pública del estado” leía “con ansia […] ‘Regeneración’, que editaba en San Luis, Missouri, […] don Ricardo Flores Magón”, rememora Emilio Portes Gil. Respecto al centro de la entidad, refiere él mismo: El propietario de la “finca llamada ‘El Retiro’ […] era el único que recibía Regeneración’, que después se pasaba de mano en mano”, llegándole a Portes Gil, a la postre fe-
roz enemigo de esta tendencia ideológica. Aparte de lectores, el magonismo suma firmes adeptos. Tamaulipas ofrece también muestras claras al respecto. Lo vemos en 1906, con el llamamiento a insurreccionarse, “pues cuantas veces hemos querido ejercitar un derecho, hemos sido atropellados por los tiranos”. Prosélitos del municipio fronterizo de Camargo respaldan la rebelión, aplastada por el régimen opresor. Desatendidas las demandas populares aun tras caer la dictadura, insta el PLM a tomar latifundios de poderosas elites. Lanza entonces la consigna “Viva tierra y libertad”. Dicha bandera la enarbola Higinio Tanguma al frente de ejército rebelde en campos de Tamaulipas. Auténtico precursor del agrarismo, muere abatido por tropas del gobierno. Los nexos con la entidad norteña continúan desarrollándose. “La huelga de los 15 mil trabajadores de petróleo de Tampico […] suprimida por […] la fuerza” militar, demuestra “cómo [Venustiano] Carranza se limpia el trasero con la” nueva Carta Magna, acusa el 1 de septiembre de 1917 en ‘Regeneración’ el propio Flores Magón, de posturas anarcosindicalistas. El periódico desaparece luego en forma definitiva. Correligionario del PLM, Librado Rivera más tarde se traslada al sureste tamaulipeco e impulsa los ideales libertarios. (Con permiso del autor, según fuera publicado en La Razón, Tampico, Tamps.)
AUSTIN — Una de cada seis casas tuvo problemas para evitar sentir hambre en 2012-2014 pese a la total recuperación económica, de acuerdo con un reporte dado a conocer por el Departamento de Agricultura de EU. Se encontró que más del 17 por ciento de las casas en Texas experimentaron hambre o participaron en copiar mecanismos para evitarlo. El porcentaje es mayor a la tasa nacional actual de 14.3 por ciento. La cifra en Texas es del 17.2 por ciento. En números brutos, 1.7 millones de casas en Laredo no tenían seguros sus alimentos, más que cualquier otro estado a excepción de California. La tasa de inseguridad de alimentos en el estado se mantuvo estadísticamente sin cambios comparada con un periodo de tres años anteriores. “Nos enfrentamos a un problema crónico de hambre en EU”, dijo Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas. “Año tras año, estas cifras continúan siendo demasiado altas. Para resolver este problema necesitamos crear más oportunidades que auxilien a familias que sufren para ganar un salario que les permita vivir, e incrementar nuestras inversiones en programas diseñados para ocupar el lugar de los salarios bajos”. Más de 20 bancos de alimentos en Texas se encuentran afiliados con Feeding Texas, el cual es parte de más de 200 bancos de alimentos Feeding America en el país. El Banco de Alimentos del Sur de Texas, en 1907 Freight en Laredo, es integrante de Feeding America. El STFB abrió en 1989 como el LaredoWebb County Food Bank, distribuye suplementos alimenticios a un promedio de 27.000 familias por mes en un área de ocho condados en nivel de pobreza desde Del Rio (Condado Val Verde) hasta Rio Grande City (Condado de Starr) donde la tasa de pobreza es de más del 30 por ciento. De acuerdo con el reporte del USDA, 87 por ciento de los estadounidenses sin comida segura vivía en una residencia donde ganando menos del 185 por ciento del nivel de pobreza federal, el equivalente a 37.000 dólares para una familia de tres y el recorte para muchos programas federales. “Hemos comprobado que los programas para suplir las necesidades de las familias quienes ganan demasiado poco, les permite llegar a final de mes”, dijo Cole. “Debemos volver a invertir en estos programas, y analizar por qué nuestra economía no produce los empleos suficientes para permitir que los trabajadores dejen de preocuparse por su siguiente comida”. El ingreso de una familia promedio en esta región es menor al promedio nacional y estatal. “Tenemos familias con tres, cuatro o cinco integrantes, en nuestra área con ingresos anuales de 20.000 dólares”, dijo Alma Boubel, directora ejecutiva del Banco de Alimentos del Sur de Texas. Entre los programas del STFB se encuentran Adopt-a-Family, Commodity Supplemental Food Program (para adultos mayores), SNAP Outreach y Kids Cafés, para después de la escuela. Visite southtexasfoodbank.org para más información.
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
A&M Continued from Page 1A A&M College Station. These professors that will be in McAllen, they are the same professors that will be in College Station. … It’s quite unique.” There are only two other facilities of its kind in the world, he said. One is Texas A&M at Qatar, an engineering school in the Middle East, and the maritime academy in Galveston, Texas. Both campuses are also linked to College Station The plan is to build the facility on about 100 acres in the Tres Lagos development in an incorporated area in far north McAllen, off Ware Road. The facility will start offering programs in engineering, technology, biomedical sciences, agriculture and lab sciences. The City of McAllen and Hidalgo County partnered to provide the land, as well as a commitment of $10 million that will go toward the facilities and $8 million that will be used for utilities and infrastructure, Sharp said. City, county and university officials are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding to finalize the agreement on Tuesday. Sharp said they were not yet ready to announce any official plans for the campus, but said it will include several buildings and they do expect for the Texas A&M System to make an additional investment on top of what the two cities are providing. “My guess is, from conversations with the president and the provost, is that they want it to be bigger than that and that funding will be from A&M sources,” Sharp said of the local investment commitment. The announcement comes only a few weeks after the inauguration of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, which dissolved UT-Pan American and UT-Brownsville in order to also tap into the Permanent University Funds. The new Texas A&M location will not directly compete with UTRGV, Sharp said, clarifying that none of the programs
would be duplicated. He said Young and Provost Karan Watson have been in conversations with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board about the new courses and there’s been a positive reaction from board members. Last year a controversy erupted when Texas A&M Kingsville announced it was expanding its course offering at its Weslaco branch. UT-System Vice Chancellor Pedro Reyes voiced his opposition to the coordinating board, stating these courses were in the plans for UTRGV. The issue soon dissolved when UTRGV officials, including President Guy Bailey, met with Texas A&M leaders to confirm there weren’t duplicate courses. The idea of having a presence in the Rio Grande Valley surfaced about four years ago during a meeting with Rep. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, DMcAllen and local developer Alonzo Cantu, Sharp said. But the plans didn’t solidify until a year ago when they began putting the pieces together with Mayor Jim Darling and city commissioner leaders. It was then, Sharp recalled, that university officials met in his office with Darling, Hinojosa, County Judge Ramon Garcia, Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D McAllen, and local developer Alonzo Cantu to fully develop the vision. “It’s been a goal of ours for some time,” he said. “It has to do with bringing the best university in Texas down to the Rio Grande Valley.” The plan of the future facility’s president, Young, is to start with about 100 students and expand to 750 or 1,000 in the next five years, Sharp said. But for now they are sticking to modest numbers until they see what the demand brings to the table, he added. “We can’t say yet that this is going to be a branch campus,” he said. “But this is one of those deals where if you build it, they will come. We know what the demand is in the Rio Grande Valley.”
Bergdahl wants info made public By JUAN A. LOZANO ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — The lawyer for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was held prisoner for five years by the Taliban, is asking the Army to publicly release a transcript of Bergdahl’s interview with military officials following his release in a controversial prisoner swap, saying it could help counteract negative publicity in the case. Bergdahl is facing military charges, including de-
sertion, for leaving his post in Afghanistan in June 2009. He is facing his initial court appearance in the case starting Thursday at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where he has been stationed since returning to the U.S. last year. His attorney, Eugene Fidell, has asked the military to publicly release the transcript and a summary of an investigative report before or during the Article 32 hearing, saying it could help counteract neg-
ative publicity. Fidell said Bergdahl may not receive a fair trial “given the prolonged barrage of opprobrium that has been heaped upon him over the last year.” “Sgt. Bergdahl has been called every name in the book,” Fidell wrote in the request, which he released to media outlets on Tuesday. “It is as if he had a target painted on him. It is preposterous for him not to be able to defend himself in the court of public opinion.”
Military officials say the Idaho native was captured by the Taliban after leaving his post in southeastern Afghanistan. He was released by the Taliban in a prisoner exchange for five Taliban commanders. The 29-year-old was charged in March with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. If convicted, he could face up to life in a military prison. He could also be dishonorably discharged, reduced in rank and have to forfeit all pay.
BLAME Continued from Page 1A But Perry also said his campaign effectively ended in early August, when he missed the cut for the Fox News GOP debate in Cleveland. “The other thing that we knew had to happen was we needed to be on the main debate on Aug. 6,” he said. “We missed it by a few percentages of one point... It had a very negative impact on our fund-
raising through the summer.” In interviews since Perry made his Friday announcement, political operatives around the country have suggested that his departure from the broad field will have a nominal effect on polling. But several presidential campaigns swooped in to court his donors — and consultants say his campaign fea-
tured quality staffers who are ripe for the picking now. In Monday night’s interview, Perry revisited his numerous criticisms of real estate developer Donald Trump, who is leading in the GOP polls. But he also expressed frustration that public service, specifically as governor, is being overlooked on political resumes at a time
when outsiders are dominating the polls. “Donald Trump’s bullets going through Washington went through and hit people like myself, hit people like all the governors that are on the stage, for instance,” he said of his former rival. “I don’t believe this is the only profession in the world where your experience ought to be held against you.”
TOURISTS Continued from Page 1A initially said on Monday the tourists did not have permission to be in the area. He didn’t mention any new information on the death toll or casualties from the incident. Mexico’s Foreign Relations Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu called the aerial attack “an unjustified aggression.” The sister of one of the Mexican tourists killed said her brother, Luis Barajas Fernandez, 49, had been visiting Egypt for the first time. “He had never gone to Egypt before,” said Ana Barajas, who lives in the northern Mexico state of Tamaulipas. “It was for pleasure,” she said of the trip. The married 49-year-old had worked as a salesman in hospital and medical supplies.
“It is an unparalleled hurt,” she said of his death, adding the Mexican government was going to take care of the response to her brother’s death, and the repatriation of his remains. Two other Mexican dead have been identified by name as Maria de Lourdes Fernandez Rubio and Rafael Bejarano. The incident, among the deadliest involving tourists in Egypt, comes as the country is trying to revive its vital tourism industry after the turmoil following the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. Egypt has mainly been battling insurgents in the northern Sinai Peninsula, on the other side of the country, where Islamic militants stepped up attacks on security forces after the military ousted Islamist
President Mohammed Morsi in 2013 amid massive protests against his rule. But in recent months, militants loyal to the Islamic State group have carried out a series of attacks in more central parts of the country, including the bombing of the Italian Consulate in Cairo and the kidnapping and beheading of a Croatian oil surveyor who was working in the capital. Egyptian officials initially claimed the safari convoy had wandered into a restricted area. The tour company involved “did not have permits and did not inform authorities,” Rasha Azazi, a spokeswoman for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, earlier told The Associated Press, adding that any trips to that area must be cleared by officials. “They were not supposed to be there,” she
said, without providing further information about the incident. Egypt’s western desert has long been a popular safari destination, with tourists flocking to its verdant oases, unique rock formations and white sand dunes. In recent years, however, it has been the subject of security concerns because of the long, porous border with Libya. Egypt has been flooded with weapons, mostly from Libya, since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and plunged that country into turmoil. Egyptian security forces frequently target smugglers in the western desert, and in July 2014, gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades attacked a border guard post, killing 21 troops.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A
Rate hike decision a toss-up By MARTIN CRUTSINGER ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Will they or won’t they? Nine years after they last raised their benchmark interest rate and after months of feverish speculation, Federal Reserve policymakers this week may finally raise that rate from a record low near zero. Unless they don’t. Financial markets have been zigzagging with anxiety as investors have tried to divine whether the Fed will start phasing out the period of extraordinarily low borrowing rates it launched at a time of crisis in 2008. With the job market now considered essentially recovered from the Great Recession, many economists say it’s time to start edging toward normal rates. Others argue that many other factors — from a sharply slowing China to the tumult in markets to persistently less-than-optimal inflation — raise serious concerns. They say the Fed should wait, until later this year or even until 2016. When the Fed announces its decision Thursday, followed by Chair Janet Yellen’s news conference, no one is sure what to expect. Economists appear evenly split on the likelihood of a rate hike. “It’s kind of wild that we still don’t know what they are going to do so close to the meeting,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. Even if the Fed does raise its benchmark shortterm rate, no one expects a sharp or rapid sequence of hikes. The Fed’s vice chair, Stanley Fischer, has suggested that the first hike would be a modest quarter-point increase in its benchmark rate from a range of zero to 0.25 percent to a range of 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent. The anxiety gripping investors stems in part from concern that once the Fed starts raising its key rate, other rates — for mortgages, car loans, business borrowing — will eventually rise. Some fear the economy might suffer. Yet the Fed’s influence on many consumer and business rates is only indirect. In the short run at least, those rates could continue to stay low, held down by low inflation globally and by a flow of money into U.S Treasurys. Fed officials have stressed that once the central bank starts raising rates, the process will be extremely gradual. The Fed might pause for months after its first hike
Photo by Paul Sakuma | AP file
This Aug. 21, 2012 file photo shows an exterior view of HewlettPackard Co. headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. Hewlett-Packard’s upcoming spin-off of its technology divisions focused on software, consulting and data analysis will eliminate up to 30,000 jobs.
Hewlett-Packard to cut 30K jobs By MICHAEL LIEDTKE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta | AP file
In this July 20 file photo, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, from left, with Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, and the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System, presides over a meeting in Washington. Nine years after they last raised their benchmark interest rate, Federal Reserve policymakers this week may finally raise that rate from a record low near zero. and assess the consequences before proceeding further. Until turmoil struck markets this summer, a September rate hike seemed a lock. Then, China’s surprise decision to devalue its currency ignited fears that the world’s second-largest economy was weakening faster than assumed. Stocks tumbled. At an economic conference last month in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Fed officials sent mixed signals about this week’s meeting. Some indicated they were ready to raise rates if markets had settled and if the economy kept improving. The unemployment rate reached a seven-year low of 5.1 percent in August, while job growth, though solid, slowed a bit. In July, when Yellen delivered a midyear economic report to Congress, she reiterated that the Fed would likely raise rates before year’s end. But she wasn’t specific. Swonk foresees no rate hike this week. She noted that a hallmark of the Fed is to move cautiously when facing risks. “There is more to be lost by being wrong and moving too soon than waiting a few months to see if China is just a ripple in the global economy or the precursor of a bigger storm,” Swonk said. Likewise, Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University, Channel Islands, thinks the Fed will delay a hike. “A quarter-point won’t
mean much to the U.S. economy, but it could mean significant additional turbulence in emerging markets such as Brazil, Indonesia and India, which are already seeing sizable outflows of capital,” Sohn said. On the other side of the debate is Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, who thinks the Fed will lift its rate by a quarter-point. “Given that the economy is strong and rapidly approaching full employment, zero interest rates don’t make a whole lot of sense,” Zandi said. “The longer they wait, the more uncertainty and volatility they are creating in financial markets.” One reason for the likely gradual pace of rate hikes is that Fed officials want to make sure the new machinery they will deploy to control rates will work effectively. Before the Great Recession, the Fed would control its federal funds rate — the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans — by adjusting how much money the banks held. To lower rates, the Fed would buy Treasurys held by the banks. And the banks would use the money they received to step up lending. If the Fed wanted to raise short-term rates, it would sell Treasurys to the banks, thereby reducing the money the banks held and driving loan rates up. But all the bond buying the Fed did to cut rates left banks swimming in reserves. So the Fed needs
other tools to influence rates. A key plan is to raise the interest the Fed pays banks on their reserves. The idea would be to set a floor on interest the banks charge their customers: Banks wouldn’t be willing to lend at lower rates than they’re receiving from the Fed. This could have the effect of reducing lending. Yet economists generally say the effects of a series of small rate hikes will be negligible. David Jones, an economist and Fed historian, thinks a 1 percentage point increase in the Fed’s rate would cause the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to rise only to about 3 percent by the end of 2016, from 2.2 percent now. That would mean only slightly higher mortgage rates — not enough to derail the housing recovery. The dollar, which has risen sharply in the past year, could also increase further, which could slow exports. American producers have already suffered a slowdown in exports from the dollar’s strength and weakness in overseas markets. Still, many economists predict little initial reaction to the Fed’s first rate hike in nine years. A modest rate has likely already been discounted by investors, they say. “So long as the Fed doesn’t send a signal that it is going to start moving rates up more aggressively, I don’t expect any big changes in stocks, bonds or currency levels,” Zandi said.
SAN FRANCISCO — Hewlett-Packard Co. is preparing to shed up to another 30,000 jobs as the Silicon Valley pioneer launches into a new era in the same cost-cutting mode that has marred much of its recent history. The purge announced Tuesday will occur within the newly formed Hewlett Packard Enterprise, a bundle of technology divisions focused on software, consulting and data analysis that is splitting off from the company’s personal computer and printing operations. The spinoff is scheduled to be completed by the end of next month, dooming 25,000 to 30,000 jobs within HP Enterprise. The target means 10 to 12 percent of the 252,000 workers joining HP Enterprise will lose their jobs as part of the company’s effort to reduce its expenses by $2 billion annually. The cuts expand upon austerity measures that HP has been pursuing for years to offset the damage caused by acquisitions that haven’t panned out and a technological shift from PCs to mobile devices that reduced demand for many of the company’s key products. HP has already jettisoned 55,000 jobs during past few years under CEO Meg Whitman, who will be the leader of spun-off HP Enterprise. In an illustration of how far HP has fallen, its job cuts are being made while many other technology companies better positioned to take advantage of the mobile evolution have been on hiring sprees. For instance, Google’s workforce has swelled by 25,000 employees, or 77 percent, during the past four years. HP’s layoffs have been demoralizing blow to a
company that provided a template for future Silicon Valley entrepreneurs when William Hewlett and David Packard founded it 76 years ago in a Palo Alto, California, garage. Hewlett and Packard later embraced an employee-friendly philosophy that became known as the “HP Way.” Things began to change at the outset of this century under former CEO Carly Fiorina, now a candidate for the Republican Party’s nomination in the 2016 race for president. Fiorina engineered a $25 billion acquisition of PC maker Compaq that angered many shareholders, including heirs of the company’s founders. She cut more than 30,000 jobs before she was fired a decade ago. Fiorina’s successor, Mark Hurd, also lowered expenses through much of his tenure and orchestrated an acquisition of technology consultants EDS that many analysts believe did more harm than good. Hurd stepped down in 2010 in a dispute over his expenses and his involvement with an HP contractor. Despite the upheaval, HP remains one of the world’s biggest technology companies. HP Enterprise expects to have more than $50 billion in annual revenue. Whitman is touting the splintering of HP as a way to breathe new life into two companies that will be better suited to innovate in their own product areas and take care of their customers. HP Enterprise focuses primarily on businesses and government agencies, while the PC and printing divisions depend on the consumer market for a significant chunk of their revenue. “Hewlett Packard Enterprise will be smaller and more focused than HP is today,” Whitman promised in a Tuesday statement.
12A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015